Disposable lighter with safety ignition feature

ABSTRACT

A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit is comprised of a body and a head, wherein a nozzle, a ring, a wind mask, a lever press plate, a spring, a flint, a bracket and an igniting wheel set with safety ignition unit are arranged on said head. The igniting wheel set with safety ignition unit includes two central axles, two cinctures and an ignition wheel which is used to make friction with said flint so as to generate sparks, said two cinctures are located on each end of said igniting wheel, the inner diameter(s) of said cincture is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the portions of the igniting wheel set which they encircle, so as to form the rotation of the cinctures as “sliding wheels.” The two central axles are supported on the bracket of the outer head and act as common rotational axle of said cinctures and igniting wheel. Characterized by its reasonably structured design and low cost, the present disposable lighter can effectively avoid dangers caused by ignition of lighter by a child or errors in operation.

This application claims priority of, and is a continuation-in-part of,PCT International Application, PCT/CN2006/00134, filed Jan. 24, 2006,which application is incorporated herein by this reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a disposable lighter with a safetyignition unit that makes the operation of an unintended user moredifficult, more particularly an ignition unit preventing children fromigniting the disposable lighter unnecessarily.

BACKGROUND

Presently, most lighters available in the market, especially disposablelighters, can be easily ignited by young children and thus cause hiddendangers in property loss and personal injury. More and more countries,especially Western countries, have attached great importance to theprotection of children and imposed strict measures on safetyrequirements for lighters. Nowadays, both the U.S. government and U.S.Consumer Product Safety Commission demand a safety device in everycigarette lighter, including the disposable lighter, in order to preventaccidental ignition or ignition by a child.

A “simple lighter,” without a safety ignition unit, generally includes abody and a head, on which there is a nozzle, a ring, a wind mask, alever press plate, a spring, a flint, a bracket, and an igniting wheelset mounted on the bracket, wherein the igniting wheel set is anigniting wheel and a cincture that are fixed together and rotate andstop simultaneously. The conventional cincture includes a central axleon which the igniting wheel is fixedly mounted. The conventionalcincture is positioned so that its outer perimeter is slightly higherthan the igniting wheel, normally as a result of the igniting wheelbeing mounted coaxially with the cincture, and the cincture having alarger outer diameter than the outer diameter of the igniting wheel.This conventional cincture typically has a toothed or a many-ridgedsurface, so that the user's thumb/finger may grip and rotate thecincture to rotate the cincture-igniting wheel combination. When usersuse ordinary strength to rotate the combined igniting wheel and cinctureunit (simultaneously), the igniting wheel movement relative to the flintwill result in friction to generate sparks, and the purpose of ignitingthe lighter can be achieved when the lever press plate is depressed atthe same time to release fuel. However, a simple lighter such as thiscannot effectively avoid various risks caused by ignition of the lighterwhen a child plays with the lighter, as sparks may be fairly easilygenerated when the combined igniting wheel and the cincture unit isrotated accidentally. One modification of this simple lighter that iscurrently in the marketplace is a simple lighter with a guard extendingover the otherwise-exposed portion of the igniting wheel, so the user'sthumb/finger must only contact and rotate the toothed/ridged cincturesto rotate the cincture-igniting wheel combination.

As it is known that the disposable lighter is common and relativelycheap, it is impossible to incorporate expensive and complex safetydevices which greatly increase the cost of the lighter. Such expensivesafety devices in a disposable lighter simply would not be tolerated bythe economics of the marketplace.

In order to provide safe use of a disposable lighter and avoid dangerscaused by accidental ignition of lighters such as the “simple safetylighter” described above, various measures have been adopted. In orderto minimize the manufacturing cost of a disposable lighter with a safetyignition unit, one of the most common types of disposable safetylighters is the drive wheel type disposable safety lighter. This type ofdisposable lighter comprises a pair of drive wheels driving the strikerwheel to rotate in order to generate sparks, wherein the drive wheelsnormally run idle in order to prevent unwanted ignition when the drivingwheels are physically disengaged with the striker wheel. In these priorart safety lighters, therefore, some means of the drive wheelsdisengaging and engaging the striker wheel must be provided.

The “driver-igniter” disengagement and engagement type of safety device,and other types of safety devices are discussed in more detail below:

1. Goal: Make the operation of ordinary lighters more difficult inrestricting the use of such lighters by young children. It is for thispurpose that U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,002,482 and 7,004,750 B2 disclosed achild-resistant device, incorporated with a relief mechanism to blockthe gas fuel and to prevent ignition of the lighter by pressing thesafety ring downward.

A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit is shown in U.S. Pat. No.7,004,750 B2, wherein a striker wheel and two gear elements form acombined unit. Each gear element comprises a gear wheel with teeth, aninner support shank, and an outer supporting shaft (all integral partsof the gear element). The inner support shanks each comprise a wheelaxle that is fixed to the striker wheel, and a support wheel that has awidth adapted to provide a “supporting gap” between an end surface ofthe striker wheel and the end (inner side) of the gear wheel. Each gearelement's support wheel is smaller in diameter than its gear wheel. Thetwo gear elements, specifically, the outer supporting shafts of the gearelements, are arranged for respectively and rotatably mounting to twosupporting walls in such a manner that the combined unit (striker wheelfixed to gear elements by fixed connection between the striker wheel tothe wheel axles of the two gear elements) is capable of being driven torotate when the two gear wheels are driven to rotate.

Encircling the combined unit at each of said support gaps, that is,encircling each of the support wheels and each of the gear wheels, aretwo driving caps, which each have an outer perimeter “driving ring”portion with an outer circumferential “slipping” surface. Each drivingcap has a central support hole, receiving the support wheel of itsrespective gear element, which central support hole is slightly largerin diameter than the diameter of the support wheel. Each driving capalso has a circular driving cavity formed within the driving ring andthe inner sidewall, wherein each of the driving cavities has a diameterlarger than that of its respective toothed gear wheel. Thus, eachdriving cap is freely rotatably mounted in its respective supportinggap, and in its position “overhanging” its respective gear wheel. Still,the driving caps are arranged to engage with their respective gearwheels, by means of driving teeth in the driving cavity that engage theteeth of the gear wheel upon an adult pressing down on the driving cap.This way, the force applied by an adult will move the driving caps downrelative to the gear element, engaging the cavity driving teeth with thegear wheel teeth, so as to drive the combined unit (the gear element andthe striker wheel fixed together) to rotate for striking the strikewheel against the flint supported by a spring to produce sparks, therebyigniting the lighter. However, the present inventor notes that thepresence of the driving cavity makes it difficult to ensure the mostproper engagement between the driving caps and the gears of drivingwheels, thus causing the ignition operation somewhat difficult.

2. Another disposable lighter, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,709,comprises a striker wheel coaxial with, and fixed to, two driving wheelsto make a combined unit. Each of the two driving wheels has an outercircumferential toothed surface. A child resistant device is provided,wherein the safety device comprises a pair of disc-ring units (shelterring combined, and integral, with said protection disc). The innerdiameter of each shelter ring is larger than the outer diameter of thedriving wheel so as to define a safety gap between an innercircumferential surface of the shelter ring and the circumferentialteeth surface of the driving wheel. Importantly, however, the shelterring has a width shorter than a thickness of the driving wheel, therebydefining an uncovered portion of the circumferential teeth surface ofthe driving wheel, which uncovered portion of the teeth surface servesas the surface contacted by the user for actuating movement of thecombined unit. In other words, the uncovered portion of each drivingwheel toothed surfaced serves as the “actuating edge” that is contactedby the user, and moving said actuating edge moves the driving wheel,which, due to the fixed connection between the driving wheel and thestriker wheel, moves the combined unit of which the striker wheel is apart.

In order to ignite the disposable lighter, an adult's thumb must beintentionally pressed on the shelter wheels downward until his or herthumb's surface extends through/past the safety gaps (between theshelter ring and the driving wheel) to come in contact with theuncovered portion of the teeth portion (that is, to come in contact withthe “actuating edges”) of the driving wheels. By the user thus rotatingthe driving wheels at the actuating edges, the striker wheel is drivento be rotated to ignite the disposable lighter. The patent disclosingthis lighter teaches specifically that the adult thumb will only contactthe driving wheels (the uncovered actuating edges) but not the strikerwheel, such that no residue on the striker wheel will stick to theadults' thumb after every ignition of the disposable lighter.

A child's thumb is relatively short, and thus not capable of contactingthe uncovered edges of the driving wheels, therefore the purpose ofpreventing the child from accidentally igniting the lighter is obtained.However, the present inventor notes that, since the fingers of theadults are greatly inconsistent in length, the design and manufacture ofthe safety gap and the “uncovered portion” of the drive wheels are ofgreat difficulty. In addition, even if a safety gap is designed, it doesnot necessarily suit each adult user.

3. Safety has been improved in some lighters by adding relativelyexpensive new components. For instance, an elastic sheet controller hasadded to form a set of safe switches by using the recess located beneaththe lever press plate of the existing simple-type igniter and on the topof the body, wherein there is a vertical plate beneath the front end ofthe controller (note: the plate is narrower and thinner on the upperportion and wider and thicker on the lower portion), and there is athrough-hole in the plate of the controller. When in normal conditions,the controller is in a lower position, and the through hole of the upperplate is displaced with a protrusion beneath the lever press plate. Byvirtue of this condition, the safety feature in which gas cannot escapeis achieved. However, if the controller is pushed inwardly and upwardly,then the through hole of the plate of the controller is engaged with theprotrusion beneath the lever press plate, such that the controllercannot block the gas. At the time, the lever press plate is depressedtogether with the controller such that gas is released to ignite.However, when the lever press plate is released and moved upward, sincethe plate of the controller is narrower and thinner on the upper portionand wider and thicker on the lower portion, the pressing of the plateand the elastic sheet together keeps the controller in the lowerposition, at the time, the protrusion beneath the raised lever pressplate is displaced with the through hole of the plate again, and thesafety condition in which the lever press plate cannot be depressed isresumed. This improvement measure has indeed improved the safety of theigniter, but it also leads to higher design and production cost.

Whichever measure is used, there will be some drawbacks, such asincrease in cost due to increase of design works, assembly andmaterials, higher selling price or lower profit; therefore, thesemeasures are impractical for widespread use. The present invention,however, provides a simple and low-cost disposable lighter with aneffective safety ignition unit, which prevents the disposable lighterfrom being ignited accidentally.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aiming to solve the drawbacks of the existing technologies, the presentinvention provides a disposable lighter with a safety ignition unit,which is characterized by its reasonably-structured design, low cost,and effectiveness in avoiding dangers caused by ignition of the lighterby children or by errors in operation.

The purpose of the present invention is to, by means of changes toordinary lighters, provide a lighter that is more convenient for adultsand more difficult for children's operation. Said changes may berelatively small and economical to design and produce, especially whencompared to the prior art attempts at safety solutions, but are veryeffective in operation and safety.

The present invention comprises a disposable lighter with a safetyignition unit comprising an adapted cincture system, wherein smooth,preferably freely-rotating cinctures are provided that encourage achild's thumb or finger to slide off of the ignition unit, and that makeaccidental ignition unlikely, while allowing an adult thumb withpurposeful, sufficient force to reach the igniting wheel for directcontact with, and actuation of, the igniting wheel.

The preferred embodiments comprise a body and a head, wherein arrangedon said head are a nozzle, a adjustment ring, a wind mask or “flameguard,” a lever press plate, a spring, a flint, a wheel bracket systemor “outer head,” and an igniting wheel set with safety device, whereinsaid igniting wheel set with safety device includes two central axles,two cinctures, and an igniting wheel that is used to make friction withsaid flint so as to generate sparks. Said two cinctures are located ateach end of said igniting wheel respectively, and the inner diameter ofeach cincture is slightly larger than the outer diameter of therespective axle/wheel that it surrounds (preferably, a portion ofcentral axle), so as to allow the free rotation of each cincturerelative to the rest of the igniting wheel set, so that each cincturebecomes what may be called a “sliding wheel.” Said two central axles aresupported on said bracket and act as common rotational axle of saidcinctures and igniting wheel, wherein the cincture is generally coaxialwith but rotates relative to the central axle, while the igniting wheelis coaxial with and rotates with the central axle. Said cinctures eachhave a preferably smooth outer circumferential surface, to encourage achild's finger, or accidental contact, to slide off of the cincturesand, so, not to actuate the igniting wheel set to ignite the lighter.

Preferably, the gap between said cincture (the cincture inner diameter)and said central axle (the outer diameter of the portion of the centralaxle that the cincture encircles) is 0.1 mm, but is may be other sizes.The dimension of the cincture can be used to control the contact of theuser's thumb with the igniting wheel. For example, a gap of 0.1 mmbetween the cincture and the central axle can reduce the frictionbetween the cincture and the central axle sufficiently so as to make theignition more difficult.

The surface of the top of the preferred cincture is comparatively smoothand the cincture rotates along the direction of the pressing force sothat the user has good hand feel. This good hand feel is morecomfortable than the user having to rotate a toothed gear or wheel, forexample.

Said central axle preferably comprises an outer axle supported on saidbracket, a middle axle inserted in said cincture, and an inner axleinserted into, and fixed (or at least frictionally-engaged orinterference-fit into) to an axial hole of the igniting wheel. Thus,mounted, movement of the igniting wheel backwards will generate sparksand this could be accomplished, in the absence of the cinctures, bypressing the igniting wheel rearward, or the central axles rearward. Thepreferred cinctures, however, prevent or substantially prevent this forchildren's finger, or accidental, contact.

The middle axle of said central axle, the inner axle of said centralaxle, the axial hole of said igniting wheel, and the inner diametersurface of the cincture preferably have a polygonal structure, but mayalso have a smooth structure. Preferably, the middle axle and innerdiameter surface of the cincture do not have teeth, that is, they do nothave protrusions as sharp and narrow as teeth, or the cooperatingindents, that would engage as toothed gear engage; it is preferred that,when a user presses on the cinctures (but does not reach the ignitingwheel) that the force of the cinctures does not engage the central axleas teeth would, but rather the cinctures rotates freely or substantiallyfreely, only stabilized and/or slightly engaged by the preferred, butoptional, polygonal surfaces.

Compared with the existing technologies, the preferred embodiments ofthe invention have the following advantages: greatly improvement in thesafety features of the lighter without changing the original structureof the existing simple lighter (described earlier in this Description)or adding any substantial or complex components; avoiding accidentalignition by simply improving individual components of the lighter;making the operation more convenient and reducing the manufacturingcosts. In addition, it can also effectively prevent accidents when achild plays with the lighter, effectively avoiding dangers caused byaccidentally rotating the igniting wheel to generate sparks duringtransportation and carrying. Therefore, it is practicable,cost-effective and can be widely used in the production of lighters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of one embodiment of the disposable lighterwith safety ignition feature.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invented ignitionwheel set, that is, the ignition wheel set of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the ignition wheel set of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a disposable lighter such as theembodiment in FIGS. 1-3, illustrating the pieces-parts of the lighterincluding some of the internals.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the schematic disposable lighter of FIG.4.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of another embodiment ofdisposable lighter according to the invention.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the igniting wheel set withsafety device of the embodiment of FIG. 6 (Note that the innermostapertures 312 are shown larger than the preferred diameter, whichpreferred diameter is slightly larger than the diameter of the middleaxle 323 and yet not as large as the outer diameter of the ignitingwheel 33 so that the cinctures do not slide inward axially toward themiddle region of the igniting wheel).

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the igniting wheel set with safetydevice according to the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an adult user's thumb igniting the lighterusing an embodiment of the invented igniting wheel set with safetydevice, wherein the adult user's thumb is capable of sufficient force tocontact and turn the igniting wheel.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a child's thumb trying to ignite thelighter, wherein the child's thumb cannot contact the igniting wheel dueto insufficient force, and, hence, cannot turn the igniting wheel toignite the lighter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the Figures, there are shown some, but not the onlyembodiments, of the invented igniting wheel set with safety device, andthe invented lighter comprising said igniting wheel set.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 4-6, safe lighters 100, 100′ with safety ignitionunit includes a body B and a head H. The body comprises a fuel tank 10encasing lighter fuel, a wick housing 4, and a wick 5. On or underneaththe head H are installed valve/nozzle 11, a adjustment ring 2, a windmask 1, a lever press plate 6, outer head 9, a igniting wheel set 3 withsafety device, spring 8, and a flint 7, a conduction core 5. Parts ofthe lighter valve/nozzle system are shown in FIG. 5, for example, nozzlebody 112, nozzle O-ring 112, nozzle spring 114, nozzle member 115,T-valve 116, nozzle lid 117, body O-ring 118, nozzle washer 119, andsponge filter 120.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3, 6 and 7, the igniting wheel set 3, 3′ withsafety ignition device is shown to best advantage. The igniting wheelset 3, 3′ includes two central axles 32, two cinctures 31, and anigniting wheel 33 which is used to make friction with the flint 7 so asto generate sparks. The two cinctures 31 are located at each end of theigniting wheel 33, respectively, and the inner diameter (312) of thecincture 31 is slightly larger than the structure on which it rotates,so as to allow the rotation of the sliding wheel. Preferably, thecinctures 31 rotate on the two central axles 32 and so, the innerdiameters (of the inner apertures 312) of the cinctures 31 are slightlylarger than the outer diameters of the portion of the central axles 32on which the cinctures rotate. Alternatively, the cinctures may bedesigned to encircle and rotate on some other portion of the ignitingwheel set, such as the igniting wheel itself, in which case the innerdiameters of the cinctures would need to be slightly larger than theouter diameter of the igniting wheel and there would need to beadaptation to keep the cinctures from sliding to the middle of theigniting wheel; this, however, is less preferred than the embodimentwherein the cinctures rotate on the central axles.

The two central axles 32 are supported on the bracket 911 of the outerhead 9 and act as common rotational axle of the cincture 31 and ignitingwheel 33 (the cincture preferably rotating freely on the axle and theigniting wheel being fixed to the axle).

Each central axle 32 is composed of an outer axle 321 supported on thebracket 911 of the outer head 9, a middle axle 323 inserted in theinnermost aperture 312 of the cincture, and an inner axle 324 insertedin axial hole 332 of the igniting wheel 33.

Referring to FIG. 3, the surface 312′ of the innermost aperture 312 ofthe cincture 31, the surface 323′ of the middle axle 323 of the centralaxle 32, the surface 324′ of the inner axle 324 of the central axle 32and the axial hole 332 of the igniting wheel 33, preferably have apolygonal structure. The innermost aperture 312′ surface and middle axlesurface 323′ are twelve-sided, and it is between these surfaces thatthere is preferably a small gap (such as 0.1 mm). The polygonal surfaceallows some small or “slight” engagement of the cincture with the middleaxle, when an adult presses down on the cincture and thereby closes thegap, but typically does not allow engagement of the cincture of themiddle axle when a child presses down on the cincture. The small orslight engagement in the polygonal interface, when a person exertingsufficient force presses down on the cinctures, serves to allow someslight amount of driving of the central axle 32 by the cincture, and,hence, of the axle 324 and the igniting wheel fixed thereto. In otherwords, in some embodiments, some force can be generated by closing thegap between cincture 31 and the central axle 32, and applying sufficientforce on the cincture(s).

This small or slight engagement preferably involves polygonal surfacesof more than 6 sides, and preferably but not necessarily 6-14 sides.Surfaces 312′ and 323′, and the slight engagement between them,preferably do not comprise what may be called “teeth,” “gears,” or a“gear engagement” that is, it does not involve sharp or significantprotrusions or sharp or significant recess that would mate with teeth.

Referring still to FIG. 3, the surface 324′ of the inner axle 324 andthe cooperating surface of the igniting wheel axial hole 332 arepolygonal, but typically have more than 12 sides. These polygonalsurfaces serve to provide a good friction or interference fit, and/or toprovide good connection surfaces for other means of connecting the inneraxle 324 and igniting wheel 33, such as welding, adhesive, or otherfastening means.

Referring to FIG. 7, an alternative lighter (100′) igniting wheel set(3′) includes surface 312″ of each cincture and surface 323″ of eachmiddle axle that are smooth, rather than polygonal. Such an embodimentmay be desirable, as the cincture rotates very freely on the middle axleand is very helpful in preventing a child from igniting the lighter, asthere is very little friction of the cincture with the middle axle, sothere is little or no “rotational engagement” of the cincture with themiddle axle, and, hence, little or no driving of the middle axle by thecincture.

Alternatively, some or all of these structures may have other shapes ortextures, but, preferably, these structures do not have teeth or othersignificantly protruding, or significantly recessed, mating features.

The cincture 31 is a smooth cincture on its outer perimeter, and itsinnermost aperture diameter is sized to provide a gap between thecincture 31 and the central axle middle axle 323 (specifically, surface323′, 323″) of approximately 0.1 mm. Other gaps may be used, but a gapapproximately of this dimension is preferred. This way, the cincturesfreely or nearly freely rotate, and they tend not to engage the centralaxle in a way that will cause rotation of the central axle when thecinctures rotate, at least, not to engage the central axle in a way thatwill cause rotation of the central axle when the cinctures are rotatedby the force of which a child is capable. This preferred free or nearlyfree rotation, even upon pressing down of the cincture, is provided inpart because the preferred central axle and cincture do not have teeth.Some friction or some engagement between the innermost aperture surfaceand the central axle may be caused by the preferred polygonal shapes ofthese surfaces, as discussed above, but not to the extent that would becaused by teeth. Still, even with some friction or engagement by thecincture, the main actuation force, as will be further explained later,is an adult's user's thumb pressing down hard enough to contact and movethe igniting wheel itself.

The outer perimeter of each cincture is a slip ring portion 313, and itssurface 313′ is a smooth circular/cylindrical surface. Thus, the slipring portion is exposed generally at the top of the lighter, when allcomponents such as the cincture 31, central axle 32 and igniting wheel33 are connected and mounted on the brackets 911.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 8, one may see that the preferred cincturesextend radially out along the main discs 320 of their respective centralaxles 32, and the slip ring portion 313 of each cincture extends axiallyoutward across the outer perimeter surface 320′ of the main disc 320.Preferably, there is also a gap between the inner surface 313″ (of theslip ring portion 313) and the outer perimeter surface 320′ of the maindisc 320. This gap, like the gap between the cincture and the middleaxle, preferably is about 0.1 mm, but may be other amount; this gap isalso intended to allow free or nearly free rotation of the cincture 31relative to the central axle 32. Preferably, the inner surface 313″ ofthe slip ring portion is smooth, does not have teeth and does not engagethe main disc outer perimeter surface 320′ to any significant extenteven when the cinctures are pressed down. On may see, in FIGS. 3 and 8,that the slip ring portion 313 preferably completely covers theradially-extending side surface 320″ and preferably completely coversthe outer perimeter surface 320′, so that the user may not contactsurface 320′ or the main disc 320 at all. In this way, the inventedsafety system adds the invented cinctures 31, which cover the centralaxles 32 (or conventional driving members that connect to the ends ofthe igniting wheel in the conventional “simple lighter”)

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, there are shown comparisons of how thepreferred safety device works when an adult user and a child user try tolight the lighter. The finger/thumb of the user must be able to pushdown with sufficient force to reach, and have full contact with, theigniting wheel 33 and sufficient strength should be applied to rotatethe igniting wheel 33 so as to generate sparks.

Referring to FIG. 9, the adult finger/thumb TA is capable of pressing onthe ignition wheel set so that a portion of the finger/thumb extendsbetween the cinctures to contact the igniting wheel 33. It is thiscontact and force upon the wheel 33, and optionally some small or slightengagement between the pressed-down cinctures and the central axles,that drives the igniting wheel 33. Thus, direct contact between theuser's finger/thumb and the wheel 33 is desired and necessary.

Referring to FIG. 10, the cincture runs idle when the finger/thumb TC ofthe user does not fully contact with the igniting wheel 33 and nosufficient strength is applied to rotate the igniting wheel 33.

The present invention greatly improves the safety features of theigniter without changing the original structure of the igniter or addingany complex or expensive component. The original “simple lighter” designmay be used, and the invented cinctures may be added with little or nomodification of the simple lighter design. It is convenient for use,cost-efficient, capable of effectively avoiding any accident or danger.

When a user uses ordinary strength (equal to that used on an ordinarylighter, rather than the enhanced/increased “sufficient” strength neededto operate the invented lighter) to rotate the igniting wheel set 3 withsafety device, since the outer diameter of the cinctures (at slip ringportion 313 and surface 313′) are larger than the outer diameter of theigniting wheel 33, the thumb cannot touch the igniting wheel 33, or, ifit does touch the wheel 33 slightly, its strength cannot move theigniting wheel 33. In such a case, the cincture 31 and the ignitingwheel 33 (including the central axle) cannot rotate or stopsimultaneously, therefore, only the cinctures 31 are rotated. Even ifthe thumb further depresses the lever press plate to discharge the fuel,ignition does not occur, because the igniting wheel 33 (including thecentral axle) does not rotate to make friction with the flint togenerate sparks. In this manner, it can effectively avoid dangers causedby ignition of the lighter when a child plays with the lighter or theigniting wheel is rotated by mistake.

When a user uses more strength (which is substantially greater than thatused on an ordinary lighter) to rotate the igniting wheel set 3 withsafety device to generate sparks, the thumb, while moving the cinctures31, will also directly contact with and rotate the igniting wheel 33 tomake friction between the igniting wheel 33 and the flint and generatesparks. At that time, the thumb will further depress the lever pressplate to discharges fuel and ignite the lighter.

In preferred embodiments, therefore, it may be said that the disposablelighter with safety ignition unit is comprised of a body and a head,wherein a nozzle, a ring, a wind mask, a lever press plate, a spring, aflint, a bracket and an igniting wheel set are arranged on said head,said igniting wheel set includes two central axles joined to a centraligniting wheel to form a axle-igniting-wheel combination, wherein theigniting wheel is adapted to make friction with said flint so as togenerate sparks, and two cinctures located on each end of said ignitingwheel and encircling a portion of the axle-igniting-wheel combination,wherein the inner diameter of each of said cinctures is slightly largerthan the outer diameter of said portion to create a gap, so thecinctures are adapted to rotate relative to the axle-igniting wheelcombination, and said two central axles are supported on said bracketand act as a common rotational axle of said cinctures and ignitingwheel. Each of said cinctures may be a smooth cincture having a smoothouter perimeter. The gap between said cincture and said axle-ignitingwheel combination may be 0.1 mm, which reduces friction between saidcinctures and said combination to make ignition more difficult. The gapbetween the cincture and said combination can be used to reduce thefriction, make the ignition more difficult, and give the user good handfeel. Said central axle may be composed of an outer axle supported onsaid bracket, a middle axle inserted into said cincture, and an inneraxle inserted in an axial hole of said igniting wheel. An inner surfaceof said cincture, the middle axle of said central axle, inner axle ofsaid central axle, and the axial hole of said igniting wheel may have apolygonal structure. Said polygonal structure may be a polygonalstructure with more than six sides. Between said central axle and saidcincture there may be a polygonal interface used to connect the devicesmoving inwardly. Sufficient strength must be applied to rotate theigniting wheel so as to generate sparks. Each of said central axles maycomprise a main disc having a radial surface facing said igniting wheeland an outer perimeter generally cylindrical surface, and said ignitingwheel set and igniting wheel may be adapted to ignite only if saidigniting wheel is forced to more by a user. The cinctures preferablycover said central axle radial surface and said outer perimeter surfaceso that the user does not touch said radial surface or said outerperimeter surface, and, instead, a user must directly contact theigniting wheel in between the cinctures in order to rotate the ignitingwheel and ignite the lighter.

Although this invention has been described above with reference toparticular means, materials and embodiments, it is to be understood thatthe invention is not limited to these disclosed particulars, but extendsinstead to all equivalents within the scope of the following claims.

1. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit comprised of a bodyand a head, wherein a nozzle, a ring, a wind mask, a lever press plate,a spring, a flint, a bracket and an igniting wheel set are arranged onsaid head, said igniting wheel set includes two central axles joined toa central igniting wheel to form a axle-igniting-wheel combination,wherein the igniting wheel is adapted to make friction with said flintso as to generate sparks, and two cinctures are located on each end ofsaid igniting wheel and encircling a portion of the axle-igniting-wheelcombination, wherein the inner diameter of each of said cinctures isslightly larger than the outer diameter of said portion to create a gap,so the cinctures are adapted to rotate relative to the axle-ignitingwheel combination, and said two central axles are supported on saidbracket and act as a common rotational axle of said cinctures andigniting wheel.
 2. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unitaccording to claim 1, wherein each of said cinctures is a smoothcincture having a smooth outer perimeter.
 3. A disposable lighter withsafety ignition unit according to claim 1, wherein said gap between saidcincture and said axle-igniting wheel combination is 0.1 mm, whichreduces friction between said cinctures and said combination to makeignition more difficult.
 4. A disposable lighter with safety ignitionunit according to claim 2, wherein said gap between said cincture andsaid axle-igniting wheel combination is 0.1 mm, which reduces frictionbetween said cinctures and said combination to make ignition moredifficult.
 5. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit accordingto claim 3, wherein the gap between the cincture and said combinationcan be used to reduce the friction, make the ignition more difficult andgive the user good hand feel.
 6. A disposable lighter with safetyignition unit according to claim 4, wherein the gap between the cinctureand igniting wheel can be used to reduce the friction, make the ignitionmore difficult and give the user good hand feel.
 7. A disposable lighterwith safety ignition unit according to claim 1, wherein said centralaxle is composed of an outer axle supported on said bracket, a middleaxle inserted into said cincture, and an inner axle inserted in an axialhole of said igniting wheel.
 8. A disposable lighter with safetyignition unit according to claim 2, wherein said central axle iscomposed of an outer axle supported on said bracket, a middle axleinserted into said cincture, and an inner axle inserted in an axial holeof said igniting wheel.
 9. A disposable lighter with safety ignitionunit according to claim 7, wherein an inner surface of said cincture,the middle axle of said central axle, inner axle of said central axle,and the axial hole of said igniting wheel have a polygonal structure.10. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 9,wherein said polygonal structure is a polygonal structure with more thansix sides.
 11. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit accordingto claim 1, wherein between said central axle and said cincture there isa polygonal interface used to connect the devices moving inwardly.
 12. Adisposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 1,wherein sufficient strength must be applied to rotate the igniting wheelso as to generate sparks.
 13. A disposable lighter with safety ignitionunit according to claim 1, wherein each of said central axles comprise amain disc having a radial surface facing said igniting wheel and anouter perimeter surface, and wherein said igniting wheel is adapted toignite only if said igniting wheel is forced to move by a user andwherein said cinctures cover said central axle radial surface and saidouter perimeter surface so that a user cannot contact said axle radialsurface and said outer perimeter surface and the user must directlycontact the igniting wheel in between the cinctures in order to rotatethe igniting wheel and ignite the lighter.
 14. A disposable lighter withsafety ignition unit according to claim 1, wherein an inner surface ofsaid cincture and an outer surface of said middle axle are both smooth,for reducing friction between said cincture and said middle axle.